- May 21, 2025
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One moment, Courtney Warner is patrolling the streets of Memphis as a police officer. The next, she is enthusiastically welcoming a gruff visitor back to his hometown, where it's "Valentine's Day every day" and he just may find love.
Such is the life of the Bird Key-based actor who has some exciting film projects coming out now, and plenty of others in the works. Warner sat down with the Observer to share a glimpse of her acting journey, future ambitions, and offer advice to up-and-coming actors.
Warner first moved to the area nearly nine years ago from York, Pennsylvania. Considering this is where her now husband, Charlie Shrem, proposed to her, Longboat Key will always hold a special place in her heart.
"Charlie and I weren't planning on moving here, but when you come around Mound Street and see that beautiful landscape, you realize there is no other place like it," she said. "We've been all over the world, and I don't see myself leaving."
She added, "It really is God's country here."
While she has enjoyed traveling the world through her work, she said she is glad to make Bird Key her home base so she can be close to her family on Lido Key and stay involved with local organizations, especially those promoting animal welfare and advocating against domestic violence.
Her mother, Diane Sterner, is the special event director with the Lido Key Residents Association. When Warner visited her several years ago, planning to help her mother with a move, Sterner was secretly conspiring with Warner's soon-to-be fiancé on a surprise proposal.
Warner appreciates the tight-knit community here, and she credits her involvement with the Sarasota-based Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center for helping launch the resurgence of her acting career a few years ago.
She volunteered to walk the runway — wearing go-go boots in one trip — for the organization's annual fashion show fundraiser, and that is where she connected with her now manager, Gabriella Messina.
Messina moved to the area from New York, and one of the projects she took on in her spare time was directing the SPARCC fashion show. Warner had recently reached out to Messina for professional guidance, but they really connected after the show.
"I called her, and she immediately said, 'Wait, you're go-go boots?'" Warner said with a laugh.
"To her credit, she is the one who got me out of my stage fright and studied with me to help me get out of my own head," she said. "Because of what she did for me five years ago, I am able to do what I do on camera now."
Warner started her career in the arts in New York City in 2002, where she got a dance contract with the MSA agency after studying with the Broadway Dance Center.
Her repertoire includes street jazz, hip-hop and modern dance, among other styles. She started dancing at the age of five, and it was a dream of hers to work professionally in the field.
She found it rewarding to work as a performer. But she eventually shifted focus to acting, starting with commercial work. Under the guidance of agent Lucille DiCampli, Warner leaned into her upbeat, animated charm to transition to working in front of a camera.
"I was auditioning during the day and waitressing in a cocktail bar in the evenings," she said.
The very first movie role she played was a featured background character in the 2011 film "Two Wasted Lives," which traces an adolescent's spiral into a world of crime.
The short film went on to win a Royal Reel award at the Canada International Film Festival in 2012.
Warner progressed to having a named role in "The Instant Messenger," also released in 2011. Relationships she built on set led to her opportunity to work on "The Will," filmed in Denmark. This hair-raising thriller follows the death of a billionaire and his family's attempts to secure an inheritance.
The movie isn't the only suspenseful one in her filmography. Warner played the character Lily in the 2023 film "Trauma Therapy: Psychosis."
She said working on this movie meant a lot to her considering she acted with Tom Sizemore in it, the last movie he made before he died in 2023. He is best known for his roles in "Saving Private Ryan" and "Blackhawk Down."
Her most recent release is "Love Unleashed," a family-friendly canine-centric romantic comedy that came out last February.
Several other projects are in post-production, including "After All," "DNA Secrets" and "Break the Cycle."
Though she couldn't yet reveal the name, Warner said she perhaps is most proud of her performance in an upcoming heist film directed by Aaron Mirtes.
"There's a lot of action, and I enjoyed the character because she's very quirky and funny, but she gets to have some serious moments as well," she said. "There is a lot of great music from some Nashville stars to look forward to."
Reflecting on her career so far, Warner said she, like many, had moments of doubt. In particular, she remembers feeling despondent after losing a shot at working with Viacom.
"That really scared me, and I had a moment of thinking that maybe I'm not cut out to do this," she said.
Now, Warner enjoys a career as a full-fledged actor with about 20 films in her catalog.
There are certain moments she'll treasure forever, like when former Three's Company star, Joyce DeWitt, nicknamed her "Courty Bear" on the set of "Ask Me to Dance."
One of the most rewarding moments she's experienced came not long ago, when a friend's sister dove into watching all her films, which brought her some much-needed cheer as she navigates a cancer diagnosis.
"That's my goal," Warner said. "That's what I want."
